Future Chief!

Contrary to what the people of Berk believe, Hiccup's intelligence coupled with his adventures and experiences on other islands has more than prepared him for his role as the future chief of Berk. As a matter of fact, at the ripe old age of 16, Hiccup is already putting plans in place for Berk's future.

Disclaimer: I rarely, if ever, write cannon. I write how the story takes me.

Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD or any of their characters. In other words, I Own Nothing.

Chapter 3: Separation

As the week of the marriage seem to drag on, Hiccup and Astrid didn't get to see much of each other. As a matter of fact, they didn't get to see each other at all as the grownups were determined to stick to tradition and keep them apart. About halfway through the week they did allow, well, demanded that Hiccup see Astrid one time. They didn't have much of a choice. Apparently Astrid had had enough and pulled her axe out threatening to gut anyone and everyone in the vicinity. Her mother tried to calm her down and almost lost an arm in the process. When the other ladies of the village saw that not even her own mother could calm the girl, they went to the chief and flat out told him tradition or not, he needed to let Hiccup go to Astrid before she took someone's head off. The chief was reluctant and thought the women were just being women and overreacting. He told them to calm down and he would go talk to the lass as he was the chief and she wouldn't dare harm him. It wasn't long before the chief came back with a limp and a nasty cut down his arm that was dripping blood. His eyes were wide like he had seen a ghost. The ladies of the village were standing there waiting for him with their arms folded staring daggers at him. If he thought he was going to get any sympathy from them he was sadly mistaken. He told them he would get Hiccup but it might take a while as Hiccup wanted nothing to do with the people who were keeping him away from Astrid so he was not staying in the village. As a matter of fact, no one had seen or heard from Hiccup since they imposed this stupid tradition on him. They didn't know where he was staying or how to get in touch with him. Hiccup had pretty much exiled himself from the village of Berk. The women were surprised to hear that and then they really started to worry. If they couldn't find Hiccup they would not be able to get near Astrid. It was Fishlegs who finally came up with a plan to find Hiccup. He explained to the village how strange Stormfly had been acting since they had locked her up. It was Astrid's mother idea to lock her up because she knew if Astrid got half a chance she would jump on Stormfly and go to Hiccup. Everyone thought the dragon was upset because she was being kept away from Astrid but Fishlegs explained to them that even though Stormfly missed Astrid she was probably more agitated at not being able to see Toothless. The villagers didn't understand what Fishlegs was driving at since they knew Stormfly loved Astrid.

"That's rubbish" Astrid's mom snapped. "That dragon loves that girl."

"Yes she does" Fishlegs responded. "But let me put it another way. No matter how much you love a different species, you will always love your species more. You have been keeping both Stormfly and Hiccup away from Astrid. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that she loves them both. Do you think Astrid pulled her axe out because she has not seen Stormfly, a different species from her, or because she has not seen Hiccup, the same species as her? Yes, Stormfly loves Astrid but Stormfly also loves Toothless. Even though Toothless is not the same class of dragon as Stormfly, they are both still dragons."

Once Fishlegs explained it to them like that they could see the logic in what he was saying.

"So that still doesn't give us a solution" someone shouted from the back.

Fishlegs now saw why Hiccup got so frustrated with his village and called them brainless barbarians. After only 5 minutes of talking to them he felt a headache coming on and thought about going to Astrid and letting her gut him so he wouldn't have to continue explaining the simplest of things to them over and over again.

"Yes, that does give us the solution" Fishlegs said in frustration. "Stormfly is of the tracker class of Dragons. We simply let her go and follow her. She will go straight to Toothless. We find Toothless, we find Hiccup."

The Berkians looked at each stupidly at how simple the plan was yet it had not crossed the minds of any of them. As they started to disperse to get their dragons so they could follow Stormfly, Fishlegs started to speak again.

"Chief, I don't think it would be wise to take an army of folks to meet Hiccup. He is not very pleased with the village at the moment and we know Hiccup is not the same Hiccup we knew before. I think it would be better if you just took people who Hiccup would be more receptive to speaking with."

The chief thought about what Fishlegs said and then remembered what Hiccup did to Astrid's father and thought Fishlegs suggestion had merit.

"Who would you suggest Fishlegs?" The chief asked.

"Honestly chief, I wouldn't choose you even though I know you are going to go anyway since you are the chief and he is your son. But it's no secret that you are not one of Hiccup's favorite people at the moment. But to answer your question, I would take Mrs. Hofferson as she is his future mother in law, Gobber as he is basically the father that raised Hiccup and me as I'm probably the best friend he has after Astrid." Fishlegs stated without embellishment.

As the chief stared at Fishlegs, he felt the guilt and pain of knowing what Fishlegs said was true. At 16, Hiccup was more of a man than any other man in the village and he had become a man without the help of his father. His pride wouldn't let him admit this to anyone else but his pride couldn't hide the truth from himself.

"The people who Fishlegs mentioned will meet me at the dragon school with their dragons in 15 minutes." The chief ordered.

15 minutes later they opened the cage Stormfly had been kept in. She looked around, squawked angrily at them once and then immediately streaked into the air. The four riders took off after her. Stormfly flew in a straight line as though she was on a mission. Stormfly flew for about 30 minutes before she started descending to uninhabitable looking island. As they got closer to the island, they saw a beautiful waterfall. Not far away from the waterfall was a large sturdy looking house. Stormfly landed and immediately ran into the house. As the four landed they had surprise written all over their face as the two large doors to the house swung open like saloon doors when Stormfly pushed them. The four Berkians went into the house and again was surprised at how nice and homey the house was. They looked over to a big area off to the side and saw Stormfly and Toothless greeting each other the way dragons greet. They continued to look around and finally spotted Hiccup sitting in an oversized chair with his feet stretched out on an ottoman with a book in his hands.

"What do you want?" Hiccup said in a cold voice without bothering to look up.

Hiccup had known they were there long before they landed. Toothless had already given him the warble which to Hiccup meant people were coming. As Toothless hadn't started growling, Hiccup knew it was people who were not a danger to them. The Berkians were still in shock at seeing the house and never heard Hiccup speak. Raising his voice, Hiccup spoke in the same cold voice.

"I said what do you want?" he repeated.

They heard him this time and were alarmed at the tone of his voice. As Hiccup had his back to them they proceeded on into the house so that they were standing facing him. Toothless had come over and was sitting beside Hiccup with his eyes slitted. He didn't know what they had done to Hiccup but the tone in Hiccup's voice told him Hiccup was not happy to see these people which meant Toothless was not happy to see these people.

"For the third and hopefully the last time, what – do – you – want?" Hiccup stated coldly spacing the question out.

"Watch your tone with me boy" Stoick snapped. "I'm still your chief and father and" but before Stoick could say another word Hiccup cut him off.

"NO" Hiccup shouted! "You watch your tone with me Stoick. We are not on Berk now. When I was on Berk, I followed all of your stupid rules and traditions but that wasn't good enough for you. You finally had the nerve to tell me to stay away from the woman I love and as you can see I did that too. But now you are on my island uninvited. You are in my house uninvited. And you have the nerve to say you are my father? You are no father of mine. That title would go to Gobber as he was the one who came the closest to filling a father's role with me. I came here to get away from you and your nonsense. Now why don't you and your fellow Berkians get back on the dragons you rode here on and go back to Berk before somebody gets hurt. Toothless usually destroys anything and anyone who upsets me and as you can see he knows you are the reason I'm not in a good mood.

All the Berkians looked at Toothless and could see the blue flame that was developing in his mouth and could hear the growls coming from him as he stared at them with murder in his eyes.

"You are not welcome nor wanted here." Hiccup stated coldly. "I will see you on my wedding day."

The Berkians, including the chief, now understood why Fishlegs had said he would not pick the chief to go find Hiccup. They were also starting to understand why Fishlegs and Hiccup were friends. Fishlegs was like Hiccup. He was not just book smart but he was smart about life also. Stoick was about to speak again when Mrs. Hofferson put up a talk to the hand sign to him. With her heart in her throat and keeping an eye on the dragon watching her very closely she walked over to Hiccup and knelt before him.

"Hiccup, I know you are upset with us because we kept you and Astrid apart and I now see that all traditions are not for everyone. I also see the honorable man you are because we all know you could have said the Hel with tradition and seen Astrid anytime you wanted to. But now we do need you to come see Astrid. She is in a bad state right now and needs you."

Hiccup jumped up with murder in his eyes. Toothless also jumped up and the Berkians could see the fireball forming in his mouth as he took a menacing step toward them.

"What have you done to Astrid" Hiccup shouted while clenching and unclenching his hands.

"Hiccup, Astrid is perfectly fine physically" Fishleg's told him.

Hiccup turned his icy glare on Fishlegs. "Stop stalling and tell me what's wrong with my betrothed."

"She needs to see you" Mrs. Hofferson answered. "She is making herself sick because she misses you. Please Hiccup; you have to come back so she can see you."

Mrs. Hofferson had barely finished speaking before Hiccup had sprinted out of the house with Toothless and Stormfly right behind him. As the others rushed out of the house, they saw Hiccup sprinting full speed toward the cliff. Without missing a beat he dove off the cliff with Toothless and Stormfly right behind him. They held their breaths with their hearts in their throats until they saw a black streak already putting many miles between them. They could just make out what looked like a dot on the back of Toothless. Stormfly was not as fast as Toothless but she was using every bit of speed she could muster to try to keep up with him. The others figured they had better get on their dragons and get going before they lost sight of Stormfly and ended up lost.

Back on Berk, everyone could hear the familiar sound the Night Fury made when he was flying at top speeds. They looked toward the sound and saw a black dot getting bigger and bigger. They all knew where the dot was heading so the whole village ran toward the dragon school where Astrid had isolated herself. Astrid heard the Night Fury sound and ran out into the middle of the ring looking up for the Night Fury. She finally saw Toothless headed straight for the school. The whole village had climbed up into the seats to watch the reunion. Before Toothless had even touched the ground Hiccup had hopped off his back and landed in the ring. Astrid dropped her axe and sprinted across the ring. She threw herself in Hiccups arms and had a strangle hold on him. Hiccup was holding Astrid just as tight as he murmured comforting words to her and rubbed her back. Hiccup walked over to one of the benches in the ring and sat down which automatically had Astrid sitting in his lap straddling him. She finally released her death grip on him and leaned back so she could see his face. He was smiling at her which made her smile before she started kissing him all over his face. Hiccup was chuckling as Astrid continued her barrage of kisses. Stoick, Gobber, Mrs. Hofferson and Fishlegs finally arrived and landed in the ring to the sight of Astrid bathing Hiccup in kisses. Mrs. Hofferson nonchalantly walked over to where Astrid had dropped her axe and placed it behind her back. The villagers in the stands snickered at this. When Mrs. Hofferson looked over at Hiccup and Astrid, she saw that they were now talking quietly to each other. Then they heard a sound that no one thought they would ever hear from Astrid. Astrid giggled. Everyone was stunned wondering how in the Hel was Hiccup the useless able to get Astrid, the most feared shield maiden to giggle. The Elders of the tribe didn't care. If Hiccup was able draw that out of her and keep her calm then tradition be damned. They were not separating those two again. They would have chaperones every time they were together but there was no way they were risking their lives again by trying to keep them apart. Everyone watched as Hiccup said something to Astrid and she started bouncing on his lap in excitement before hugging him. Hiccup motioned for Mrs. Hofferson to join them. As she sat down beside them she noticed that Astrid was still happily sitting in Hiccups lap straddling him. She wanted to tell her to sit down proper because that was not the way for a proper lady sit but she knew that wouldn't work. When it came to Hiccup, Astrid had no boundaries and did not give a crap on how she was viewed. Ingrid knew she would have to use guile and tact in this situation.

"Astrid dear, I know you are comfortable but don't you think you have injured poor Hiccup enough with your spiked skirt." Ingrid remarked.

The affect of her words were immediate. Astrid would lose an arm before she would hurt Hiccup. She jumped up and started running her hands all over Hiccup's body checking him for injuries. Ingrid just smacked herself on her forehead as her plan had half worked. Astrid was no longer straddling Hiccup but now it looked liked Astrid was, well she didn't want think about what it looked like now. Hiccup started chuckling as he looked over at Ingrid. Looking at Hiccup she saw that he knew what she had been trying to do and how it had backfired on her. She started chuckling to. Astrid had finished her examination of Hiccup and was now looking at her mother and Hiccup trying to figure out what was so funny. She thought back to what had happened and then narrowed her eyes at her mother as she figured it out. The look she was giving her mother just made Ingrid and Hiccup laugh harder. Finally, a smirk and then a smile came across Astrid's face before she too started laughing recognizing how her mother's plan had backfired on her. She was also blushing as she realized just how thoroughly she had been checking Hiccup for injuries. Astrid sat back down on Hiccup's lap, sideways this time, as the three of them continued to laugh. When they were laughed out Hiccup explained the plan he had and why he thought they needed it. Ingrid had some doubts until Hiccup explained to her who the chaperones would be. She smiled at the plan and agreed to it. Astrid jumped up and hugged her mother before running over to Stormfly and hugging her dragon. Stormfly purred as she had missed her little rider. While Astrid was getting reacquainted with Stormfly, Hiccup walked around the arena pointing to certain people and signaling to them to come down into the arena. He told everyone else that everything was under control now and they could go on about their business. When the people that Hiccup had selected were all gathered in the arena, the group consisted of Hiccup, Stoick, Gobber, Astrid and her parents, Fishlegs and his parents, Snoutlout and his parents and the Thorston twins and their parents. Hiccup proceeded with the explanation.

"I called you all down here because this upcoming wedding has put a strain on what is supposed to be a joyous occasion so we are going to break with some traditions but not the intent of the tradition. The tradition of not seeing your betrothed will not be followed for this wedding but whenever we are together we will have chaperones. That will be tested today. We are going to take a trip to my island and relax for a few hours. When I say we I mean everyone here in this group. This will do two things. One, It will give Astrid and I people our own age to talk to. Two, no one will be able to dispute the chaperones who were with us for this trip. I want to do this because this week is supposed to be a happy week for my betrothed. It has been the opposite and I cannot let that continue. Does anyone have any questions?" Hiccup asked.

No one had any questions.

"Good, meet back here in 30 minutes with your dragons and we will depart." Hiccup instructed.

The trip to the island turned out to be an excellent idea. The teenagers swam in the lake under the waterfall while the parents sat around the lake in various chairs Hiccup had made. The parents were actually laughing as the teenagers dragons had also decided to swim and play with their riders. Everyone had a good time and all could see that the strain from her separation from Hiccup had been erased as Astrid laughed and played like a little girl. Ingrid was especially grateful Hiccup had come up with this idea. Seeing her child this happy is what every parent wants for their child and it filled her with happiness. She looked over at her husband who also had a smile on his face as he watched his pride and joy. Every father thought there was no man who was good enough for their daughter but Hiccup had proven his worth. Even he thought Hiccup wasn't worthy of his daughter, he could tolerate anybody who could make her smile and laugh like she was doing.

Hiccup got out of the water and told everyone to continue swimming while he went up and got supper started. Astrid yelled she would help as she also got out the water and everyone got quiet. Everyone knew Astrid had to be the worse cook in the village. Smiling, Hiccup told everyone he would cook and Astrid would keep him company. Astrid had a pout on her mouth until Hiccup kissed her and then she was smiling again. As Hiccup passed the grownups holding Astrid hand, he asked the women to come with them so they would have the proper chaperones. The ladies sat around the living room talking, they had a clear view of the kitchen and could see Astrid sitting on a stool talking to Hiccup as he walked back and forth through the kitchen preparing the meal. The women were happy enough that Astrid never got off the stool so they decided they could overlook Hiccup giving Astrid a kiss every now and then as he passed her. Sometimes Astrid would just reach out and grab him as he passed so she could get another kiss. They soon smelled a wonderful aroma coming from the kitchen. It must have wafted out to the others for soon everyone was in the house. Once the meal was prepared, Hiccup told everyone to sit where ever they were comfortable and he, Astrid and the rest of the teens would serve them. Each teen served his or her parents. Once all the grownups had plates stacked high with food, the teens made their own plates and found seats. Hiccup called over to Toothless.

"Hey bud, take the dragons to the feeding troughs."

Toothless gave Hiccup a warble before turning to the dragons and warbling to them. They all followed toothless as he left the house and took them around the back of the house. Toothless hit a lever and fresh fish and water from a bin above poured into a long trough. The trough was long enough so that all the dragons could eat at once. There was plenty of fish so the dragons were happy and content.

Everyone thanked Hiccup for a fine meal and prepared to leave as the sun was getting low. Hiccup told them he would lead them back to Berk. Everyone got on their dragons and soon they were flying back to Berk at a leisurely pace. When they landed everyone started to disperse to their own homes. Hiccup and Astrid were holding hands quietly talking as they walked toward Astrid's house with Stoick, Gobber and Astrid's parents walking several paces behind them. When they reached the house they turned and faced each other.

"Well milady" Hiccup started. "I guess this is where I say my farewell" Hiccup finished as he bowed at the waist.

Astrid rolled her eyes giggling at her silly fiancé.

"Come here and kiss me dragon boy" Astrid demanded with a smile on her face.

"As you wish milady" Hiccup said as he grabbed Astrid and dipped her before capturing her lips in a searing kiss.

Everything fell away for Astrid except for Hiccup and his lips on hers. She had her arms wrapped around him as her hands played in his hair. She would have happily stayed in his arms all night until she heard someone clearing their throat. That brought them both back to the present and Hiccup brought Astrid back upright as he released her lips. They smiled at each other before Hiccup gave her a quick peck on the lips and turned to leave.

Hiccup continued to talk to Astrid even as he strode away.

"Goodnight milady, I shall see your beautiful face in the morn."

"Goodnight my knight, I shall see your handsome face in the morn." Astrid replied

Finally Ingrid couldn't take it anymore.

"Ok, that's enough. Goodnight to the both of you. Astrid get in the house and up to your room. Everyone already knows you're crazy about the boy; you don't have to go shouting it all over the village."

Astrid just giggled a little as she turned and ran up to her room. She stripped out of her clothes and went rummaging through her clothes for a certain article of clothing. Finally finding what she was looking for, Astrid put on Hiccups tunic which still had his smell on it. She got into bed and fell asleep almost immediately dreaming of her wedding day as she walked down the aisle while a freckled face boy with chestnut colored hair waited for her with that goofy smile that she loved on his face.